(10) Income Taxes

Income tax expense differs from amounts computed by applying the federal statutory income tax rate to income from continuing operations before income taxes as follows:

The Company utilizes the federal FICA tip credit to reduce its periodic federal income tax expense. A restaurant company employer may claim a credit against the company’s federal income taxes for FICA taxes paid on certain tip wages (the FICA tip credit). The credit against income tax liability is for the full amount of eligible FICA taxes. Employers cannot deduct from taxable income the amount of FICA taxes taken into account in determining the credit.

The Company files consolidated and separate income tax returns in the United States federal jurisdiction and many state jurisdictions, respectively.  With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to U.S. federal or state income tax examinations for years before 2014.